Keto Diet vs Intermittent Fasting I.F. (Which Is Better?)

Keto versus intermittent fasting. what is
Keto? what is intermittent fasting? when should you do one or the other or could
you even do them together? in this video we’re going to explore these ideas so
that you can make the best decisions for your health goals and you can do it in a
healthy way coming right up I’m Dr. Ekberg I’m a holistic doctor and
a former Olympian if you want to truly master health and performance by
understanding how the body really works make sure that you subscribe and hit
that notification bell so that you don’t miss anything
both ketogenic diets and intermittent fasting have gotten a lot of headlines
lately and the reason is they get results for people why do they work so
well for all sorts of health problems because most health problems are due to
insulin resistance whether it’s obesity or pre-diabetes or full-blown diabetes
insulin is the central component and insulin resistance is the result of
getting this system out of balance so the ketogenic diet is when you reduce
carbohydrates so much that your body has no choice but to start burning fat
because most people have trained their bodies into relying on carbohydrates so
their bodies don’t know how to use fat and the only way to get the body to
start using that fat again is to reduce the carbs so much that the body really
has no choice and then as the body learns to burn fat you become fat
adapted and a byproduct of fat burning is ketones so cutting carbs low enough
to produce ketones is called a ketogenic diet and it’s a measurable physiological
state you can do a urine test you can do a blood test and you can see if you have
ketones to a significant degree then you know that at that point you’re burning
fat so that’s a good thing and once you
start burning fat instead of carbs and you lower the carbs there’s less need
for insulin so you reverse insulin resistance
same thing with intermittent fasting because the only thing that cuts
carbohydrates more than the ketogenic diet is fasting meaning you don’t eat at
all for a period of time so these two concepts really go hand-in-hand and it’s
a very good idea to use the two together so let’s look a little bit about how
this mechanism in the body works where does the problem start and and how do we
improve it so if you eat food any kind of food then your body gets more
resources and it can use the resources for fuel or it can store some of them
for later use or if you eat something that has building blocks your body can
build a new tissue so the most blood sugar the most insulin response you can
get is by eating carbohydrates any food you eat will give you some insulin
response but carbohydrates give you the most because carbs are absorbed very
quickly they raise blood sugar quickly and when blood sugar goes up very
quickly then we need insulin to lower the blood sugar again so we get a large
spike of insulin the more blood sugar Rises the bigger the spike of insulin
and of course this happens more the more refined the carbohydrate is so the the
worst would be pure glucose and pure sugar and refined grains refined
starches because when they refine they’re broken down to smaller particles
smaller components so it’s very very quick for the body to absorb them and
that’s a problem fast absorption causes high insulin spikes and insulin
is a storage hormone it’s an anabolic hormone why do we have it because the
body goes through periods of feast and famine sometimes there’s plenty
sometimes there’s not so much so when there’s plenty it’s a good idea to put
some away for the times where we don’t have so much so when you have plenty
your body first says let’s build and repair the stuff that needs repairing
and the second says second thing it says is let’s put some away for another day
so that means when there is plenty of food and you get a big insulin spike the
tendency to store is much greater than the tendency to use and when you develop
insulin resistance now the cells get so much that they start saying no we can’t
handle any more fuels you gave us all this sugar we converted it to glycogen
as much as we could then we turn the rest into fat but now we just have no
place to put it and at that point the cells start to put up a defense they
become resistant to insulin and at this point when insulin is high then we don’t
have access to use it anymore all those stores we put away the body doesn’t
release them freely under the influence of a lot of insulin so what happens then
once we custom the body to this carbohydrate metabolism to the habit of
relying on carbohydrates for energy is we get hungry very quickly if you get
hungry quickly you have to eat more meals and you get cravings for more
carbs and so on and so on so what’s the problem with frequent meals we hear that
so much they tell us oh you should eat small meals frequently why is that a
good idea or a bad idea no it’s a terrible idea every time you eat
anything it’s to some degree a mess to trigger insulin and to increase
storage and if you do that six times a day you’re telling the body to store fat
six times a day and then you get more and more cravings and what do you crave
you crave carbohydrates because they’re absorbed the fastest they can get your
blood sugar back up the fastest and now you get stuck in a loop where you’re
storing more and more you’re using you’re burning less and less you’re
eating more frequent meals you’re telling your body often several times a
day four five six times a day to store more carbs as fat on the other hand if
we eat a different kind of food if we eat fat and protein if we eat fatty
meats and non starchy vegetables and butter and full fat dairy and fish then
this food is absorbed much much slower whereas carbohydrates can start getting
into the bloodstream basically within seconds or maybe a few minutes fat and
protein going take hours after you eat a big steak with some fat then it might be
three four hours before that has any impact on your blood sugar or a
significant impact so it’s a very slow absorption which means that there is a
very small insulin response and that means that with this kind of food
there’s a balance between storage and usage we eat we have plenty the body
puts some of it away but because the insulin isn’t so high we have access to
the storage so if you go for a few hours between meals then it’s not a problem
you feel full much longer so the tendency becomes to eat fewer meals I
have people all the time we put them on a program in the clinic and they
start eating fewer carbs they start cutting back on the bread and the pasta
and the cookies they start eating a little bit more fat they start eating
real food and all of a sudden they say do I have to eat three times a day can I
can I skip breakfast I’m not really hungry in the morning and this is what
happens when your body gets into balance we’re not designed we’re not required to
eat three to six times a day that’s a modern idea based on carbohydrate
dependency once we eat whole food we start to eat fewer meals your body is
totally satisfied with having at first three and then eventually two and in
some cases maybe just one meal a day and because of this because you have a
balance between the storage and the usage you put some away and then you use
it when you need it instead of getting cravings you get balance so this system
is much much easier to maintain it is easier on on the mind it’s easier on the
hunger because you’re balanced you don’t get out of control you don’t have blood
sugar swings so keto and intermittent fasting fits right into both of these
systems and what I would suggest is you do this gradually because it’s not that
you can’t do it fast it’s not that you don’t get great results but if you truly
want to make long-lasting changes if you want to do things that you can continue
for the rest of your life and why wouldn’t you if something gets you
healthy then of course you want to do it the rest of your life then you want to
create habits around this you want to take out one type of food and create a
habit around a healthier type of food until that becomes the norm until it
doesn’t feel strange and if you do it gradually then in a matter of a few
months you will have all new habits and your body wasn’t shocked
and you grew into that new lifestyle so it’s not a strain or a stress so if you
do keto you start by cutting down the carbs by increasing the fat and the
protein depending on how much protein you eat protein shouldn’t be too high
because that also triggers insulin but different people do well on different
amounts of protein so some people who are very insulin resistance they might
want to cut their protein down quite a bit maybe in the 15-20 percent range
where others who are maybe leaning more toward a carnivore diet if they do well
on that they might go a little bit higher on the protein and intermittent
fasting fits right into this as well because intermittent fasting is when you
go longer between meals so the opposite of intermittent fasting is six meals a
day when you eat every time you get a chance you top off your blood sugar a
little bit your body never gets a chance to recover from that
insulin resistance with intermittent fasting most people I would recommend is
you start cutting carbs increase fat and skip snacks then you probably are at
three meals a day and then when you don’t feel the need for three meals a
day you skip one of them typically a lot of people have no problem skipping
breakfast but everyone’s different so play with it then you’re at two meals a
day so now maybe you eat at 9:00 in the morning and 6:00 at night so you have a
nine hour feeding window and the rest is a fasting window it’s a 15 hour fasting
window then you move it up and you eat at lunch and you eat at 6:00 now you
have an 18 hour fasting window then you might push it another couple hours you
eat at 2:00 and at 6:00 now you have a 20 hour fasting window so depending on
what you need to do you can push the window even further and some people go
into 24 hours 36 hours etc and there’s some benefits to that but play with it
and see what works for you see where you feel the best so the best way to do this
of course then is to combine the low-carbohydrate with the few meals some
people can get away with medium to high carb and few meals so I did a video on
ohm add one meal a day on a keto diet versus a diet with more carbohydrates
and some people can do that and feel great on it so there’s no hard and fast
rule that says this is the way it is I think for most people it’s probably a
whole lot easier to skip meals the less carbs you eat because the better fat
adapted you become the easier it’s going to be to stretch that fasting window but
again everyone is different and I’ve had people comment and say oh yeah I had to
do it with keto or no I feel much better when I when I do it with some
carbohydrates for most people I think the low-carb version is better it’s
going to be easier but if you really want to and the car a little bit more
carb works for you then that’s still powerful because even if you’re not keto
you are utilizing the principle of intermittent fasting anytime you don’t
eat you don’t produce insulin and you allow your body to become more insulin
sensitive the worst of course is as always the official guidelines to eat
high carb to eat bread and pasta and whole grains and to eat six times a day
that is a terrible idea if you are insulin resistant if you’re young and
active and you’re not insulin resistant if your body is still functioning really
well then you can get away with that type of lifestyle at least
for a good long while maybe decades but for most people on that diet they’re
going to develop insulin resistance after a while and if you have insulin
resistance already then it’s a terrible idea then you need to go and use one or
more of these tools to reverse insulin resistance
so both keto and intermittent fasting are tools to reverse insulin resistance
you can use both or you can use one at a time I would probably recommend that you
do both because it just makes good sense you get your results faster and one kind
of really feeds into the other it makes it very very easy to do if you have any
questions or comments on what we just talked about please let me know down
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care about thanks for watching

Hi, I believe Keto is better, because it's a more sustainable lifestyle. Intermittent Fasting is a form of caloric restriction and this may create bad eating habits like blake_201. Depending on ones age and activities and to avoid atrophy and weight loss, it is my opinion that intermittent fasting should be done intermittently.

Thanks Dr. Ekberg. I'm fairly new to your videos. Don't know if you have time to answer this question. Two months ago my A1C was 5.8. I changed my diet to go on Keto, and after 149 blood tests in only 62 days, my average is 109.09. I used the calculation of adding 46.7 to this average, then divided by 28.7, and my A1C reads 5.42 for 62 days. So, in my mind and knowledge, my calculations are legit, and my A1C, overall, should be 5.42, and no longer 5.8. Would you say I am correct? Thanks, much.

A few years ago I was in the worst section , standard bodybuilding diet (chicken breast, white rice, broccoli, bananas, sugary drinks, powder supplements, etc.), 6 meals/day was normal for me, I was also doing meal preps on the weekends. Preparing meals was a part-time job.

Switching to keto made things easier, because I was eating 3 meals a day, down from 6 and gradually went to 2 meals then OMAD. Fasting comes naturally on keto.On carnivore things are even more simple, no recipes to make or vegetables to chop, I eat mostly OMAD and I can fast very easy, even 48 hours and still do my daily training regimen. The best part about this is spending way less time in the kitchen and spending time in a more productive way.

There ist this very promissing diet "xxxx"(i don't mention the name to not get into trouble), which I tried. Eat 16 times a day (and of course with the classic carbs proportion of modern times…) and because there is so much artificial fibre and very little calories in this manmade "food" you are supposed to never feel hungry and loose weight. Well it starts of well. You are surprised that a few cookies every hour actually fill you up. But soon you are starving and permanently hungry and permanently full but not satisfied. So you turn back to normal food being used to be full rather than satisfied which means you over eat on a hell of a lot of calories. Crazy! At least it was for me. Intermittent fasting is the exact opposit and when i first heard about it i thought" what a crazy idea to not eat. How would i be able to last more than 2 or 3 hours without a meal?". With restricting carbs to about 50gr or less per day and reducing protein while eating a lot more fat i could suddenly last 16 to 18 hours whithout problems. I am still finding my rhythm and my kind of food so to say but i am sticking to keto and something between 16/8 and omad because for the first time in my life i do not feel hungry any more and i am slowly but surely shedding some of the extra weight which i collected in the carbs regime… Thanks for all your good and interesting advice.

Thanks for the calmly and clearly transported information. I really like that you take your time with these videos. It truly helps me to understand how my body actually functions. I've been watching your videos for a couple of months and started low carb + intermittent fasting 3 weeks ago. I'm now easily capable to do OMAD (one meal a day) on a regular basis. I even snuck in a 48 hour fast recently. I already feel much better and lost a lot of weight. I don't miss my earlier high carb + frequent meals lifestyle for a second and never want to go back to it. Sugar and carb cravings completely disappeared for me after just 2 days. Everyone should give this a chance as soon as possible. I waited much longer than I had to and I wish I hadn't done that. Had I known how much better I was going to feel after such a short time, I would have started changing my diet years ago.

While you can definitely reverse the harmful effects of insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes and extend your life I don't really think you are reversing or curing the disease itself. The damage to your body that made you insulin resistant is done. If I eat multiple high carb meals for just a few days my blood sugar and insulin levels go back to diabetic levels. I will gain 10 pounds of fluid and many problems come back quickly. I think it's the best lifestyle change that you can do (right now) if you want to live to be old and healthy but once you choose OMAD or OMAD-KETO or even KETO it's a lifetime lifestyle commitment, not a diet, although we really don't know what the long term metabolic and health benefits will be 20 years from now because it's not been studied long enough yet. Fingers crossed.

Dr Ekberg would you please talk about low blood pressure. it's been quite a challenge for me lately…I live on the equator in hot season. Himalayan salt water is saving me but I'd like to know more of the science behind blood low pressure and why fasting seems to exasperate it. thanku

My diabetic mom (type 2) cannot fast. Her fasting blood sugars (morning) are always much higher than when she is awake & eating during the day. Why is that? Why does her body produce sugar & puts it in her blood when she is not eating? Yet the rest of the day it is normal or low when she eats. If she eats no carbs, her blood sugar drops drastically and she feels horrible. So she has to snack & eats carbs. We cannot figure this out.

Good video. I've been playing with IF since 2013. I feel best on OMAD. I eat too much carbs and drink 3 beers/day and stay within 5 lbs of my healthy body composition. Sometimes I get lazy and only fast for 12-14 hours and get into the cookies for a week and pudge out like 5 lbs, but a couple weeks of OMAD with slight food discipline brings me right back to sexytime. I take a month off drinking a few times per year to give the liver a rest and that makes it so much easier to stay lean, especially lower belly pudge. Maybe they'll make alcohol that isn't poisonous, that'd be sweet, get the same buzz without fatty liver disease and/or cirrhosis. I bet that even switching to dry red wine or vodka would be way better for the pudge, beer is the worst, like eating an alcoholic loaf of bread every night. But oh so tasty, I do appreciate the epic microbrew fiesta we're in right now but it's making everyone fat and sick.I'm doing pretty well right now, I feel fine most of the time, and fasting is easy after all this time playing with it, but I know I'd feel even better from steering clear of Bread Mountain.

Dr, I have a confession to make. I went to yogurtland today and had so much of frozen yogurt 🍦. Had fun but feeling bad now. I am on OMAD and IF but it was a hot day so just hit the store with my hubby. Back to my keto tomorrow.

I think you "Hit the nail on the head" when you said, (paraphrasing you), that you can go for decades eating high carb, frequent meals per day, "if" your body is functioning well and you are active – but eventually, Insulin Resistance can become a problem as we age. I was very active, never ate more than one meal a day, and rarely snacked. However, having turned 60, I noticed I can't eat the same way I used to. Heavy on the carbs. Turned to Keto 3 months ago and the pounds fell off (I've never been fat). Having heard of the term 'T.O.F.I. ' (Thin on the outside – Fat on the Inside), I wondered what my carbs might be doing to me. Dr Andrew Weil coined a phrase: The compression of morbidity. Meaning, we are all going to die of something, but you want to live a life where sickness is reduced to the shortest amount of time possible. Eating and exercising sensibly are two factors that enable that outcome. Thank you for clarifying this matter of Keto and I.F. I was under the assumption that I.F. came with the territory of doing Keto. (I do, do both …)

Thanks for the well explained VDO. However I have the opposite. For me it is very difficult to gain weight. I am trying to increase some muscle weight. I am 55 years, length 6'3 and weigh about 180 pounds (body fat % around 12%) and hitting the gym 5 times per week with resistance training and HIIT. I eat healthy (mainly whole foods), however relative high carbs. I have to eat around 4000 kcal per day to stay at my current weight. I really have to force myself to eat, otherwise I am loosing weight. Could it be that I have the opposite of Insulin resistance? Any advice from your side? Thanks a lot

This is par excellent counsel imo the best on YT….Ekberb always teaches the 2 things that few others seem to: the intelligence of our bodies to react & respond; and the individuality of each body's needs for acheiving balance & wholeness. (Also; the reality that, once we find the right changes to make in our daily treatments of our own bodies; it becomes natural to want the good ways, and to no longer feel those slave urges to follow the bad ways that we once were bound to!!! Even a few of these recommended changes have made enormous positive improvements for my life…and all of this, without any pharmaceuticals! My GP said, looks like you got it yourself…keep it going, do whatever is giving you this good results (chronic gut pains for 7 weeks prior to diet changes & skipping breakfasts…drinking fresh lemon juice daily instead, plus using other natural supps/vits.)

Try his advice….REALLY!!! 👍I prayed for this help, and do thank both Dr. Ekberg & GOD above!!! 🙏

I do OMAD and low carb. I weigh 175 right now and I consume something like 2800 – 3000 calories in my one meal. 70% or so fat, 25% or so protein and the rest is very little carbs from veggies. I also do not eat once a week, usually Sunday’s, which turns into a weekly 48 hour fast. It has worked wonders for me.

I've been doing daily IF for two years when I had my blood work done. The numbers were good. But , after 4 months of low carb with my IF, my triglycerides dropped 25% and my tri/HDL dropped to under 2. I'm going to stay low carb and ad K2.

Great respect for u sir ..firstly being a decathlete..secondly imbibinv nutrion ..buf i m sure when u were trainjng for olympics u may be taking loads of carbs..and now donf u feel that if u would have imbibe this knowledge in your practice days ..resulf would have been different ..i m an 800m runnef bug nof at your level..but definately feel the same..though i m old horse compared to athletics bug have not given up yet and imbibing this nutrition concepts..and not to my surprise i m grtting better day in day out..ilike ur videos

Again Dr. Sten you have a very good message. We should not turn Keto and IF into a religion or a fanaticism. We need to do the best we can when we eat. As you have repeatedly said we are all different and may have different dietary needs. We need to be mindful of our own body and what it needs. The other problem is the climate where you live. Here it’s 40c in May. Sometimes I don’t feel like eating in the afternoon.

Some say drinking BB coffee breaks a fast, others say it doesn't. I think IF is great, but as someone not crazy about black coffee but really wanting my morning joe before hitting the gym prior to my eating window, I was wondering your thought on that?

To my understanding the limit of protein synthesis per meal is 40g of protein. Protein amounts needed depend on activity level and age resulting in approximately .7g-1.5g of protein per pound of lean body mass. But, just for simplicity of numbers lets say a active 150 lb male would require 150g of protein at a moderate age. That would mean needing to consume protein at 3 different times. What is the optimum time between meals in order to get the optimum protein uptake and maintain a IF lifestyle? How would 2 meal a day IF or even more extreme OMAD for most people produce long term health if protein uptake is not being optimized? Also, do fats have uptake limitations similar to protein? My personal goal has been to stay lean and develop muscle. The idea of bulking in order to develop body composition seems antiquated and I am sure there is a better way. Siim has addressed this a little bit but I don't feel this has really been considered enough. It's not just about being lean, we have to be cellularly fueled and totally saturated with nutrients to have optimum longevity and total health. Hoping you will answer or even do a video on this nuance. Thanks for the excellent content BTW!!

I'm a slim guy and l add sweet potato and yams with ghee or coconut oil, l really lost a lot of weight after a stressful event and was on a high carbs with gluten, afterwards l became gluten intolerant and was having my hair breaking , so l found out about keto at first l struggled with it by having low blood sugars and after l adjusted and things are better now, but at times l don't do Keto l tend to mix low carb and Keto but l always do intermittent fasting on both diets, l feel great and my hair is now fine as a horse.

Hi DrI had diabetic for 10 years. I used three 500 mg tablet per day. I followed the Kito diet and also usefull advices. Now my blood suger is totally changed. It's 5.4 and some times 6.7. Its unbliveable for me. Your nice videos changed my life. I want to say thank a lot for your kindness and humamity.

Im sure as soon you will be so famous around the world. Tnks Ali from UK

I am a 61 year old overweight female. I recently went on keto with intermittent fasting about a week ago. I had no keto flu, have better digestion and I feel great. I have already seen results on the scale. I have also added walking (about 8000 steps a day so far). You may have saved my life. Thank you!

Hey, why you always compare Keto to some other diet? Is keto best of all? Another thing, it feels like you always saying how good is this or that, I would like to hear more negative things about diet, because I thing every diet have some of those, like at the end of video you could say couple pros and cons about diets 🙂 Anyway, always enjoying watching your videos 🙂

I found that eating most of the days just dinner works great for me (specially during the weekdays when I'm working, as I usually have some lunch during the weekends). I feel awake at work and then I eat when I get home. It saves me time, makes me feel good and also tought me to differenciate hunger from thirst better. I used to some times feel kind of hungry and then I would drink a herbal tea and it would go away. Now I can differenciate much better between real hungrer and thirst or just pure boredom.

Just discovered this channel and subbed. . This guy is highly articulate, easily at the same level as Fung and Berg, in terms of knowledge, message, brevity, and clarity. He should have many more subs.

I do my own variation of Keto, but making sure my carb and sugar intake is minimal, if any. I have been able to lower my Blood Sugar almost 90 points, and have lost 22+ pounds. My goal is to loose 20 more pounds and lower my Blood Sugar to less that 99. God bless you for all you do for all of us!

Keto and IF really do go hand in hand. Because once you start doing keto you naturally do IF just bc you're not nearly as often hungry as you used to be. I've been doing Keto and IF for 8 months and lost 65 pounds. It's a lot easier than most people even would think of sticking to it long term bc basically once your body transitions into a ketosis state, you're basically not hungry anymore really nor craving carbs and sweets; So therefore that what makes keto and IF easy to stick to long term as they don't even realize it.

Another Fantastic Video Dr.Ekberg! I have been on IF for some months, but I been consuming medium carbs ( as I travel a lot and its difficult for me to get readymade carb-less diet). I always had this question in my mind: keto vs IF. And your video gave me the answer. I am eagerly waiting for the day when you have 1 million subscribers. You deserve it👌👌

My client gained weight by eating 2 meals a day and now I've got her on eating 2 keto based meals and shes not losing weight …or more importantly meaurements. What should I advise her to do now. Keep trying or have her do OMAD? Or eating 3 keto meals instead of 2?

Great video. So easily explained. You know how to talk about science!I am new to Keto and IF. I worry however, about side effects like peptic ulcers-stomach ulcers. I was told all my life not to fast. As an empty stomach continues “churning “ and there is a high acid environment. Is there such a risk with I F?Thanks for keeping us informed and healthy

Hello! Thanks a lot for your informative videos. I've been doing the Keto diet for about 2 months and I've lost about 30 pounds since. I'm now eating OMAD and I feel great. However, I really miss eating white rice and mashed potatoes. Do you think eating them again will reverse the weight loss and start getting too much weight even if I still eat OMAD? Thanks a lot for your time.

Dear Sten,Thank you very much for your excellent teachings.I get the Keto and Intermittent Fasting Diets that you so well explain in Hyperinsulinism.Would the addition of Metformin make it easier to transition to these diets and ways of life?

If so, what doses of Metformin would you suggest?OR would you suggest another medication OR another technique?

Please note that l have had great responses in patients with the Keto Diet, as it proceeds itself to space out the meals and reduce the frequency!

At least initially, when starting on these diets and ways of life, there can be alot of difficult symptoms to contend with! For example being Headaches, Hypoglycaemic Symptoms with tremors, sweats etc. Would the Metformin etc, help reduce or make these symptoms more bearable?

and how about people that dont have insuline resistance ?? I know I dont because I made the 3 hours test at hospital and it came negative do I still have to make the fasting in order to lose weight …I think people should get test themselves first ..i have the feeling now everyone will think to have insulin resistance after watching those keto videos…